Electric signaling apparatus.



No. 806,953. l PATENTBD 1150.112., 19.05.

I.. A. GODRE s; A. E. GHOQUETTE.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25.1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Witnesses: A

qfwfw@ No. 806,953. A PATBNTED DEG. 12,;905.

L.. A.,00DRB L A. E. GHOQUBTTB.

ELEOTRIG SIGNALING APPARATUS.

nPLIoATIoN FILED Nov, 35,1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. Film1--2- s Witnesses:

Attorneys No. 806,953. Y PATENTED DEG. I2,I9o5.-

L. A. GODBRE & A. E. GHOQUETTE.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED Nov'.`25,19o4.

4 SHEETS-SHEETS.

i Witnesses: I l ,I B ZE 'I/.a/azzife, 25E n@ y H l l Attorneys PATBNTED DEG. 12, A905.A L. A. CODRE A; A. BUHOQUETTE. ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 25.1904.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

LOUIS AUGUSTE OODERE AND lALPHON SE EDOUARD OHOQUETTE, OF SHERBROOKE, CANADA.

. ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

Application led November 25, 1904. Serial No. 234,196.

. it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in train-signaling systems and apparatus for carrying the same into eifect; and it consists in certain features of novelty in the detail construction and arrangement thereof, all as hereinafter more fully described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

The object of the invention is to provide means whereby signals may be displayed at convenient distances apart between stations and at stations along a line of railway for the information and protection of the persons in charge of the management and running of trains.

Referring to the annexed drawings, in whic similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a portion of a railway equipped with the invention, showing the general arrangement thereof. Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are diagrammatical views illustrating various manipulations of the signals, and Fig. 8 is a detail view showing the construction of a signaling means hereinafter referred to.

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figs. 1 and 8, 1 indicates the railway-track. 2 is a station-building equipped with a switchboard 3, wherein are placed switches, a bell 4, and lamps 5 and 6. It is contemplated that the present system shall be used in conjunction with the ordinary lines of telegraph-posts which are now so commonly placed alongside all railway-track, and each post or as many of such posts as shall be found convenient shall be equipped with lamps Tand signalingplug sockets 8, whereby in case of the circuit being closed to illuminate any of the signals within a predetermined Zone all of the signals within that Zone may be displayed, so that if by any chance a train shall pass one signal the attention of either the engineer or other persons on the train will be attracted to other signals farther along the course taken by the train, whereby warning will be conveyed to persons in charge of the train of impending danger or other conditions which it may be to their advantage to know of. In carrying out the invention it is essential that three lines of wire shall be used, comprising a feed-trolley 9 from a suitable source of power, as 10, with return-wire 11, and branches 12 and 18, connecting the lines 9 and 11 with the third parallel line 14, which is broken at convenient intervals by switches and passes through the lamps 7 and signalingplug sockets 8.

Referring to the diagrammatic View, Fig.

2 shows the system with all of the switche open and no signal set.

Fig. 3 shows the switches 15 and' 16 closed from the sources of power-supply 10 and 10n to the circuit-carrying wires, with the station-switch 17 closed to supply current to the lamps 7a, which in this diagram are represented by the thin lines, which indicate said lamps are burning, there being one of said lamps burning at the station 18 and onelamp burning at the station 19 upon the switchboards of each of said stations, and all of the lamps between the stations 18 and 19 in the circuit are burning.

Fig. 4 shows the switches 15 and 16 closed, with the lamps 7 b burning at the stations 19 and 20 and all of the lamps in circuit between said Stations 19 and 20 asburning.

In Fig. 5 the switch 15 is closed to supply current to the supply-wires. The switches 21 and 22 are closed, thereby supplying current from the power-house 10 through the line 9 11 and branch 23 to the Zone between stations 19 and 2O past the station 19.

In Fig. 6 the switches 21 and 24 are closed,

and power is supplied to all of the lamps be.

tween the stations 18 and 2O through the branches 25 and 26. In this case the switch 15 is closed and the switch 16 is open,so that all vof the power is taken from 10; but to illuminate all of the lamps from station 18 to station 19 it is necessary in this case to close the switch 17, in which current will be supplied from the power-house 10 through the lines 9 11 and the parallel line 14, through the branches 12 and 13, and incidentally through the branches 25 and 26, which are controlled by the switches 21 and 24 between IOO the stations 19-and 20. 1t will be evident from the diagrammatic illustration shown that if the switch 16 is closed to the source of power 10 and the switch 17 is closed at the station 2O a similar result will follow, and it will also be evident that if the switch 16 is closed it will be impossible for the operator at station 18 to cut out the lamps. between the stations 18 and 20 by throwing the switch 17 until the operator at station 2O has likewise vthrown the switch 17 so that if danger exists in the zones between stations 18 and 20 it is evident that communication must be established between said stations and both operators be informed that the difficulty has been overcome before the lights can be cut out if both have done their duty in closing the switches 17 and 17 to display danger-signals along the line between those stations.

v1`l`or convenience of illustration power is supposed to be supplied at stations 18 and 2() and the intermediate station 19 is assumed to be a station which is unable to furnish power for any reason,- and hence must derive its power from the station at either side thereof. For this reason the switches 21 and 24 are provided at station 19. which switches, as will be noted from the diagrammatic views, may be used to supply power either to the right or left of that station or to both the right and the left, as may be desired. Y

In the arrangement of wiring shown the switch 17 and the switch 17 are designedA primarily to control the lights or signals between the stations 18 and 19, and when the switch 15 is closed closing switch 17 or 17 will illuminate all signals in the zone between stations 18 and 19. If both switches are closed, it will be necessary that both switches be opened before said lights are extinguished, and if either switch is closed it will be necessary that that switch be opened before the lights are extinguished. Correspondingly the switch 17 and the switch 22 are designed to control the lights in the zone between stations 19 and 20, and if either of said switches is closed said lamps will be illuminated if the switch 16 is closed.

The object of the branches 21 and 24 is to provide a bridge past the station 19, which is to be left closed when said station 19 is without an operator, as is frequently the case with small stations along the lines of railways, and when the station 19 or any corresponding station along the line of the road is equipped with the switches 171),'21, 22, and 24 it will be evident that the switches 21 and 24 may be closed when the operator is not present at station 19, and the entire line between the stations 18 and 20 may be illuminated upon closing either switch 417 or 17 if either switch 15 or 16 is closed, and, if desired, the operator at station 19 when present may illuminate the signals or lamps between his station and the stations 18 and 20 by closing the switches 24 and 17 to illuminate between 18 and 19 and the switches 21 and 22 to illuminate between 19 and 20. It will also be evident that if both switches 15 and 16 are closed the same result may be accomplished in the same manner by the operator at station 19.

In circuit with the lamps at the stations and between the stations are bells 28, which are adapted to sound an alarm to attract the attention of the operator at a station when the circuit is closed to display the signals from an adjoining station, and said bells are preferably maintained in circuit with the lamps, so that the bell will continue to ring all the time when the lamps are burning.

It is evident that if lamps are burning upon telegraph-posts placed at convenient intervals along a line of track such lamps are necessarily bound to attract the attention of persons upon the train, and especially the attention of the engineer, whose duty it is to watch for such warnings, and even though he may have passed a station by order of the stationmaster or other person in authority if the lamps are illuminated he will be placed upon his guard and keep his train in perfect control, so as to stop the train before encountering danger, and as the device is to be used upon single-track as well as double-track roads it is evident that if trains are approaching upon the same track from opposite directions'both engineers will be given warning in time to avoid disaster.

A manifest advantage results from the branches 21 and 24, with the corresponding switches 21 and 24, by reason of the fact that in the event of power failing at either station 18 or 20 said switches 21 or 24 may be closed, and power may be then taken from said station as is available for that purpose.

But three stations are shown in the diagrammatic views; but it will be evident that any number of stations may be connected in the same manner and power may be taken from either end of the road, or, if desired, from both ends without injury to the system, as the wiring becomes an established fixture, and the polarity of the supply may be regulated accordingly.

In conjunction with the signaling system under the control of operators at said stations we have provided means whereby signals may be given between stations, if desired, to communicate such information as may be desirable from points between stations to the operators at stations-as, for example, in the event of landslides, washouts, or the breaking down of an engine or a part of the equipment of a train, in which case the plugs 8 and plugsockets 8 in circuit with the lamps become available, in which event it is possiblefor the engineer, conductor, or any person noticing an injury to a train or to the track to insert the plug 8 in its socket, thereby closing circuit through the members a and b of said IOO IIR

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plug-socket and producing the same effect as if either of the switches 17, 17, 17", or 22 is closed, and it will be evident that a code of signalsmay be established whereby by means of such signals any desired information may be imparted to the operators at stations, and when a plug 8EL is inserted in its socket and left therein the zone in which such plug is placed will be illuminated as completely as if a switch at a station was closed, such illumination continuing until the plug is removed.

It is essential for the successful operation of the device that the three lines 9, 11, and 14 be used, whereby power may be derived from any suitable source through the feedwire 9 and from thence distributed as may be required.

It will be observed that the line 11 is broken at station 19, passing through the branch 21, switch 21, through the branch 25 to the continuation 11n of said line 11, whereby the continuity of the circuit between stations 18 and 2O is controllable by the switch 21 and that the bell 28 is in circuit with the feed-wire 9 through the branch 28a from the feed-wire 9 through said bell, thence through the branch 28b to the lamp 7b and to line 14, which eX- tends to the corresponding lamp 7b at the next station, having the branches 13 connected therewith and also with the feed-wire 9 and return 11a, and this arrangement should prevail at as many stations as there may be provided along the line of the road between the power-stations, as 10 and 10a.

While we have shown in the accompanying drawings the preferred form of our invention, it will be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise form shown, for many of the details may be changed in form or position without affecting the operativeness or utility 'of our invention, and we therefore reserve the right to make all such modications as are included within the scope of the following claims or of mechanical equivalents to the structures set forth.

Having described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In a system of signaling for railways, a pair of line conductors normally maintained in open circuit, the iirst of said conductors eX- a third conductor unbroken between each station, a plurality of electric signals connected across the said third conductor and the first circuit-conductor,switches closing said third conductor at each station to extend its continuity beyond said station, the second of said pair of conductors being also unbroken between each railway-station, and a plurality of contact devices connected across said second conductor and said third conductor.

2. In a system of signaling for railways, a pair of line conductors normally maintained in open circuit, the first of said conductors eX- tending unbroken past a plurality of stations, a third conductor unbroken between each station, a plurality of electric signals connected across the said third conductor, and the first circuit-conductor, the second line conductor normally broken at each station, means for extending the continuity of said second conductor beyond any station, a plurality of generators connected in parallel on said pair of line conductors, and a plurality of contact devices connected across said second conductor, and said third conductor.

3. In a system of signaling for railways, a pair of line conductors normally maintained in open circuit, the first of said conductors eX- tending unbroken past a plurality of stations, a third conductor unbroken between each station, a Aplurality of electric lamps or other visi- LUUIs AUGUSTE GUUEEE. ALPHONSE EUUUAEU CEUQUETTE.

Witnesses:

H. H., LANGLOIS, J. A. LEBLANC. 

